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Adaptive Soil Management : From Theory to Practices pp 131–139Cite as

Microbial Proteins and Soil Carbon Sequestration

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Abstract

Soil microorganisms catalyze various ecological processes such as nutrient cycling. Microorganisms produce as well as consume greenhouse gases, including CO2. There is a growing interest world wide in sequestering atmospheric C and improving soil properties. Mycorrhizal fungi form a mutualistic association with plants receiving photosynthate from plants. The production of a glycoprotein glomalin by hyphae of AMF is directly linked to soil aggregation and positively correlated with soil aggregate stability. It has been observed that AMF hyphal abundance and soil aggregation are also positively correlated with C and N sequestration. Small (~100 amino acids) cysteine-rich proteins called hydrophobins are expressed only by filamentous saprophytic fungi belonging to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. Another group of proteins called chaplins are produced by streptomycetes which have shown promise for the carbon sequestration in soils.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Microbiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Geeta Singh, Seema Sangwan, Ekta Narwal & K. Annapurna

Authors
  1. Geeta Singh
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  2. Seema Sangwan
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  3. Ekta Narwal
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  4. K. Annapurna
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Correspondence to K. Annapurna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Science, BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Amitava Rakshit

  2. Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Purushothaman Chirakuzhyil Abhilash

  3. Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Harikesh Bahadur Singh

  4. Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (Research), National Parks Board, Singapore, Singapore

    Subhadip Ghosh

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Singh, G., Sangwan, S., Narwal, E., Annapurna, K. (2017). Microbial Proteins and Soil Carbon Sequestration. In: Rakshit, A., Abhilash, P., Singh, H., Ghosh, S. (eds) Adaptive Soil Management : From Theory to Practices. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3638-5_6

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